It's the Christmas season, and at the same time, it's a transition from my single season to married life. As I leave the single season, there are some things that I will miss--namely the groups of Christian singles I met while I was in my single season. Someone recently joked with me that I "graduated" from the singles group because I got married. It was a funny comment, but not unlike what it really is like to graduate--I liken it to college. While we are in college, we live and do life with others who are at the same stage in life. We cheer for our team. But we know it's temporary, and one day we will no longer be in college. Some breeze through college in no time, while others spend a significant portion of their lives there. When we graduate, we will look back fondly on those years, and we will still cheer for our team, but because we are no longer a student, it's not quite the same. We have moved into a different stage of life. Singleness and marri
In March, executive orders from governors across the country forced us to stay home, to close schools and churches and to shut down private businesses. Businesses were classified as either "essential" or "non-essential." All businesses deemed "non-essential" were forced to close. This included markets, clothing stores, boutiques, dine-in restaurants, and beauty salons. State parks, city parks, beaches, walking trails, lakes, and other wide open spaces were closed as well. Many people feel that the "social distancing," as it has come to be known, and stay at home executive orders violate their constitutional rights, such as our First Amendment right to freely exercise our religion, our right to peaceably assemble, and that we shall not be deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Some of the people who feel their rights have been violated have decided to exercise their First Amendment right to protest. Some have even chosen